The Energon Pub

[ZeroWolf]

I'm now disappointed that we didn't get this. Even more disappointed that the designers never thought of it either.

[Skritz]

I wish I had the money and skill to make Third Party figures. I got all those 'what if' designs in my head and not even the drawing skills to translate them into a form people can appreciate, like a proper Transmetal 1 Dinobot or even a Transmetal Lio and Big Convoy. The ideas are in my head but will never see light of day...

[ZeroWolf]

It's interesting that the Japanese never used the Transmetals that never appeared in the show, the same as they used the Fuzors as the Blendtrons in Neo.

[D-Maximal_Primal]

I agree on the TMII Megatron talk, I would love to have seen a monster skeleton t-Rex, that would have made more sense and would have been really cool.

[Skritz]

As it is I am still incredibly fond of the Dragon form despite its limited screentime (even as it continued to be sparingly used in the sequel, of sort). He's a red Megatron. There are no other Megatron forms which used red as a primary/main color, which make this form of BW Megatron truly stand out as unique and, dare I say, iconic in its own bizarre way.

[Burn]

Ah see some of those prices are quite reasonable, till I realised I was paying twice as much in some cases in shipping

Too true. 10-15 years ago, UK TF fans fared better with the secondary market. These days, most of the local sellers are gone (or delusional scalpers) and EVERYTHING is in the US, or Australia, for some reason.

No, just no.

[Rodimus Prime]

The story of my 1st Beast Wars figure.

In 1997, my first paying job ever was as a furniture mover for my uncle's private business. He had a big box truck and we hauled furniture for people who were moving. It was a fun job and paid well, even if it was physically demanding.

One day we got to a customer's house and the easiest way to move and load all their stuff was through the double wide sliding back doors that led to their backyard. We just pulled the truck back there and started loading. Once we were finished, I was to wait in the truck while he handled the paperwork.

So as I walk to the truck, I noticed something sticking out of the ground. It had been raining, so it was muddy. But I saw enough of the object to pique my interest. It was black, with what looked like a gun barrel with a red tip sticking out. So I bend down, scrape away some mud, and pull this thing out.

It was an original Optimus Primal figure. Black all over, white feet, gray chest, some red parts. He was dirty and muddy, and missing every accessory, except the springloaded gun in his arm, and the red skull/mace in the other arm. But miraculously he wasn't broken anywhere.

At this point, I hadn't known about Beast Wars. I hadn't paid attention to TFs since the end of the G2 comics, which was a few years before. But I took 1 look at this action figure's head and immediately I was reminded of Optimus Prime. I was intrigued by Optimus Prime having a beast form, and instead of setting the figure down on a table or something outside, I just took it with me. Yeah, I technically stole it, but he was abandoned into the dirt for what looked like a long time, and with some parts missing, so I didn't think anyone cared.

After getting home I cleaned up the figure and was having a lot of fun posing him. It prompted me to find its origins and it turned me onto Beast Wars and back onto Transformers in general. I began to build my collection (which at this point consisted of a few G1 figures) and revisiting the brand as a whole. I never did get any other Beast Wars figures until 2006 when Primal and Megatron were reissued in a 10th anniversary 2-pack, but to this day, Beast Wars is my favorite TF TV series, and along with the Marvel comics it's the main reason I'm in the fandom.

In the last 10 years or so I moved a few times and unfortunately lost that Primal along the way. I can't even remember when. One day it was there, the next it was gone. But once in a while, like now, I think of it fondly, and remember a good memory from my teens. I just didn't realize until now just how important that figure was to my being a Transformers fan. If I never found it, I don't know if I had gotten back into Transformers. I was in my mid-teens and had a lot of other things going on. Just got my first job, I was in high school, interested in girls, learning to drive. But because of that figure I opened my comics again, took out my old G1 figures, and I was off back into Transformersland. And 23 years later I'm still here.

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

I suppose it's nice that it's nice that Optimus Primal got you back into Transformers, but I have mixed feelings about your taking him...

I am in the habit of sometimes bringing a Transformer to campus with me to fidget with. One day back in December of 2014, I had brought my Vector Prime (one of my first two Transformers), and accidentally left him atop a vending machine between classes. When I realized it toward the end of class and came back to look, he was gone. Someone had decided "finders keepers"... I am still upset about that. So you can see why I have mixed feelings about what you did.

On a related note... If you ever see someone post pictures of somewhat-inexpertly touched-up Vector Prime with a tiny hole in his chest (from when I was trying to relocate his "blast sounds" button)... Let me know.

[Rodimus Prime]

I understand. He wasn't left sitting on a table or with other toys. He was out by the end of the yard, buried in mud and all his accessories missing. Truly mistreated and abandoned. It was obvious he had been there for quite a while. Nobody cared. So I took him. Didn't feel guilty then, don't feel guilty now. Different than your Vector Prime situation. I'm not sure if it could be considered theft, since you left the figure alone for a length of time, but if it had been me, I would have grabbed him so no one else would, and waited until you returned to look for him, or until I ran out of time. I would have given him back, or tried to find the owner if I could.

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

Fair enough, I suppose.

Whoever grabbed my Vector Prime was not so considerate. I was checking the Lost and Found for him every so often, all the way up til the year I transferred, and nothing...

[Burn]

Forgetful owner vs rescuer of abandoned muddy toy ... hmmm.... yeah I know who I go with!

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

Going off on a tangent.. you know what one of Optimus Primal's greatest features is?
The fact that he's not missing his beast mode's hiney if you lose his accessories.

[D-Maximal_Primal]

Now put together, here is my Beast collection! (Thrust, Mirage, and Tankor are over on the Unicron Trilogy shelf, and Gigastorm is right beside the shelf)

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

Understandable that Gigastorm isn't on the shelf. He's just a taaaaad too honking big for that.

...I would still love to see a Gigastorm from TR Trypticon.

[ZeroWolf]

That's a terrific display!
Is that a gigatron I spy on the bottom shelf? Nestled in the back?

I was also going to question why you had two Optimal Optimus till I realised one was the PotP leader figure

So million dollar question, which one is your favourite, the one that your eye is always drawn to?

[D-Maximal_Primal]

That's a terrific display!
Is that a gigatron I spy on the bottom shelf? Nestled in the back?

I was also going to question why you had two Optimal Optimus till I realised one was the PotP leader figure

So million dollar question, which one is your favourite, the one that your eye is always drawn to?

Yep, both regular and Devil versions, complete with the 4 other Predacons!

I actually have 3 Optimals: the SDCC, the PotP, and the OG. Funny enough, i haven't messed with the OG too much, but so far, it hasn't quite lived up to the hype, and I at this moment still prefer the PotP one.

The one that my eye is always drawn to. hmm.... I couldn't quite say 1, but both Big Convoy and Razorbeast stand out really strong, those are the 2 I grab when I just want to mess with a beast.

Also gonna be changing this up some once I take some Big convoy comparisons. One will be going to beast mode after some shots

[ZeroWolf]

Have you got all the versions of Big Convoy? I know you got the matrix buster one

[Skritz]

POTP Optimal Optimus is generally the better figure in term of robot mode accuracy, even with the different color of the chest cockpit and the back kibble. He has better proportions and doesn't have that massive perpendicular block for electronics.

[D-Maximal_Primal]

Have you got all the versions of Big Convoy? I know you got the matrix buster one

I have 2: the anime colored encore from last year, and the matrix buster one from this year in toy colors. I'm thinking I might give my anime one the Matrix buster and put the toy one in beast mode

[ZeroWolf]

Can the anime coloured one handle the matrix buster? I thought that the mold had been retooled ever so slightly to accommodate the weapon.

[D-Maximal_Primal]

Can the anime coloured one handle the matrix buster? I thought that the mold had been retooled ever so slightly to accommodate the weapon.

There is new tooling, but the anime one can still hold the weapon. the tooling was in new beast mode feet pieces and folding matrix

[Burn]

Just gonna leave this here ...

[Rodimus Prime]

Holy crap Burn! That's a lot of figures, probably as many as I have total. Looks like they've been there a while, with the shelves sagging like that. Or is that just a trick of the lens? Did you get them as they were released?

[D-Maximal_Primal]

Just gonna leave this here ...

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Oooooooooooooooo nice!!

I see a Magnaboss and Tripledecus that I am super envious of. Those are probably the biggest Beasts still on my list to hunt

[Burn]

Looks like they've been there a while, with the shelves sagging like that. Or is that just a trick of the lens?

I think it's just an old shelf. I've had that particular system for a few years, originally got it at my townhouse and the BW figures resided on it there, and I don't think they're heavy enough to make it sag like that, just a cheap **** bookshelf.

Did you get them as they were released?

I got back into TF's, and subsequently collecting towards the end of BW/BM. I was primarily concentrating on G1 and e-Bay was awesome at that time because people were offloading in lots, got one lot with a number of BW parts in it. That's when the fun began because I spent a lot of time researching, finding out who these figures were, what parts belonged to what (especially when it came to Fuzors!). Even managed to find a couple of figures still in store